Supervisor: Dr. Tessa Davey (UKAEA Reader in Fusion Materials, Nuclear Futures Institute, Bangor University)
Industrial supervisors: Dr. Hazel Gardner and Dr. Duc Nguyen-Manh (UK Atomic Energy Authority)
Future fusion powerplants must maintain tritium inventory to ensure safe and sustainable plant operation. A breeder blanket containing liquid Li can be used to breed tritium from Li inside the fusion device. However, Li is corrosive to structural steels, and coatings are needed to inhibit tritium permeation and enhance corrosion resistance. Ceramic coatings such as tungsten oxide, erbium oxide, and yttrium oxide are effective tritium barriers and can be paired with corrosion-resistant topcoats such as tungsten. However, the behaviour of tritium in ceramics is not well understood, making it difficult to accurately predict tritium inventory.
This project will use computational atomistic modelling methods, including quantum mechanical density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics, to simulate deuterium and tritium diffusion in erbium oxide coatings and tungsten oxide-tungsten metal interfaces. These predictions will be compared with experimental data from UKAEA’s coating programme. DFT and molecular dynamics using machine-learned interatomic potentials will assess grain boundary diffusion at the tungsten/tungsten oxide interfaces, with grain boundary type and volume fraction informed by microstructural analysis (scanning electron microscopy) of tungsten coatings.
The selected candidate will join a team developing ceramic coatings for fusion, collaborating on both experimental and computational techniques. They will also be part of a UKAEA PhD network, gaining insights into the fusion industry and visiting UKAEA facilities. Opportunities to work at the Culham Campus near Oxford are available. The PhD candidate will develop advanced computational, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and fusion materials knowledge, along with transferrable skills. Applicants should have an interest in high-performance computing, effective communication skills, and a relevant degree in materials, physics, computer science, chemistry, engineering, or a related field.
This PhD studentship is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fusion Power – EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Science and Technology of Fusion Energy https://fusion-cdt.ac.uk/project/modelling-of-hydrogen-isotope-transport-in-ceramic-coatings-for-future-fusion-powerplants-materials-strand-project-a-community-studentship/
